Tsar Ivan IV: 'Ivan the Terrible'

In December 1533, Ivan IV Vasilyevich is proclaimed Grand Prince of Moscow following his father’s death. Since he is just three years old, Ivan’s mother rules on his behalf. But five years later, she dies, perhaps from poisoning. Now a group of noble families, called boyars, are in charge. The boyars are supposed to look after the orphaned Ivan, but they are too busy fighting between themselves to pay him much attention.

He is neglected, and often goes hungry. Ivan develops an intense hatred for the boyars. In 1547, at age 16, Ivan is crowned the first Tsar of Russia. The title ‘tsar’ comes from the word for Roman emperors, ‘caesar’. It sends the message that Ivan is a supreme ruler, approved by God.

Soon after he is crowned, Ivan marries Anastasia Romanovna. A gentle and kind influence, she helps Ivan keep his fiery temper under control. In his early years of rule, Ivan makes peaceful changes that aim to modernise Russia. He updates the system of justice with a collection of new, fairer laws. He creates the beginnings of Russia’s first permanent army.

And despite his status as tsar, he takes steps to spread power between different groups: he forms a new committee of advisors made up of church leaders, boyars, and landowners, called the zemsky sobor, and he shifts power in rural areas to local leaders. Then, in 1560, Ivan’s beloved wife dies. Devastated, Ivan bangs his head on the floor and smashes furniture. He suspects Anastasia was poisoned by the boyars, just like his mother. He is filled with grief… and anger.

At this time, Russia is two years into a war for the region of Livonia on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Ivan wants to gain control of Livonia to open up a shipping route for Russia to trade with Europe. Despite gaining land early on, Russia loses it when several other groups join the fight. Ivan cannot hold on to control in the region. He blames the boyars.

It is their treason on the battlefield, he decides, that set Russia back. Ivan takes out his disappointment by executing boyar leaders. But after the executions, Ivan still feels frustrated, betrayed. He suddenly leaves Russia’s capital, Moscow, announcing that he is giving up the throne — abdicating — since “the boyars make ruling impossible!” Certain members of the nobility beg him to return. Life under Ivan may be brutal, but life with no Tsar will be mayhem.

Eventually, Ivan agrees to return, on one condition: He must be allowed to put certain towns across Russia under his direct control, to do with what he pleases. These towns will form Ivan’s personal realm, or oprichnina. On his return to Moscow, Ivan sets up a special police force, the oprichniki, to enter his chosen towns. They are tasked with rooting out anyone opposed to the Tsar. They carry on their saddles a severed dog’s head to ‘sniff out traitors’ and a broom to ‘sweep them away’.

They brutally murder anyone suspected of being disloyal to Ivan. In one large city called Novgrod, the oprichniki kill an estimated 100 000 people in a month. During the last years of his reign, Ivan’s behaviour grows increasingly wild. He again deserts the throne then returns. He marries several more times, his wives often ending up poisoned or imprisoned.

And in a fit of rage, he murders his own son and heir to the throne. Ivan dies in 1584. His ‘terrible’ reign is over, but Russia’s first Tsar has laid the path for future rule by all-powerful leaders.